Rubbishing Downing Street
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ahe independent on Sunday gleefully covered the tale of the Downing Street refuse collection fiasco.
It seems the PM's office had arranged for MRS—the private refuse collection operator which handles Westminster's work—to pick up some redundant filing cabinets. The job began at 06:00hrs with the despatch of a dustcart to Downing Street and was completed in a leisurely five and a half hours.
But before finishing the task, compacting equipment on the vehicles broke down twice while loading the metal cabinets and the vehicles were involved in two accidents. In the first, at 08.35hrs, a truck backed into Lord Wakeham's car and details were exchanged. Later, another vehicle reversed into a Tudor wall, damaging the Grade 1 listed brickwork.
The damage is being assessed by English Heritage. At 11.30hrs the refuse collectors finally left Downing Street, hopefully leaving some of it still standing. No doubt the PM breathed a sigh of relief—but this was before the local elections. You can't win them all.